This invention relates to the treatment of textile webs in general and more particularly to a method for washing out thickening from printed textile materials in web form.
Washing printed material is always a critical process because in dissolving printing coagulation (thickening) and excess printing ink, which has not been applied, it is necessary to keep the printing ink from bleeding into the surrounding area. Such bleeding is particularly noticeable if the print is dark and the background is light. The subsequent washing of the print usually takes place in a cold condition in order to keep the tendency for bleeding low, and therefore extends over a relatively long time, which is an obstacle to a continuous process.
From U.S. Pat. No. 1,948,568, a method for treating textile material, among other things, also for washing of textile materials, is described. In this method, the treatment agents are sucked through the textile material in the form of a foam. The treatment agent is contained in the liquid which is used for making the foam and which is foamed by applying gas and is then brought into contact with the material in the form of the foam. However, U.S. Pat. No. 1,948,568 describes only discontinuous foam treatment of batch materials in a closed container.
For finishing purposes, however, the foam process has been developed as a continuous process, as can be seen from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,042,573 and 4,023,526, as well as from DE-OS No. 22,14,377. These patents do not, however, describe washing in the course of a continuous process. In particular, a teaching concerning subsequent washing cannot be found in these publications.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for washing out thickening from printed textile material, in which the danger of bleeding of the print is reduced.